President of the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) Wavell Hinds slammed into West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels for speaking the untruth concerning his remuneration for playing for the West Indies.
Samuels said he was being paid US$5,000 per Test match and it was much lower than what he was accustomed to getting. He said that he started 16 years ago and his salary back then was $5,000 and it is now very hard to go back to playing for $5,000.
Hinds, who played for the West Indies, said: “I started 16 years ago when Chris Gayle and I made our debut at the Queen’s Park Oval and we got US$2,500 for our first game—this is a far cry from the $5,000 that Marlon is speaking about.
“He said he was getting US$17,500 before his salary was cut to US$5,000. Marlon is a retained player and gets a monthly salary and then match fees. If he doesn’t play cricket he gets a salary each month.”
THE West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) continues to come under fire over its alleged mistreatment of the players during and after the recently concluded World T20 in India.Education Minister Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine is the latest to weigh in to the Region’s talking point and had some strong words for the management of the WICB. “I believe that there is a deteriorated situation between the board and the cricketers and it’s not very good and I think that since the cricketers are doing fairly well, the board should pull its socks up and do as well as the cricketers,” Dr. Roopnaraine said. Giving Chronicle Sport an exclusive comment, the Education Minister contended that the board must be able to meet in the middle in an attempt to solve the latest problem plaguing the regional game. Dr. Roopnaraine is no stranger to cricket having spent time at the crease as a player for Demerara as well as a first-division, lower-order batsman during his stint at Cambridge University in the early days. His comment while brief, was along the same line of opposition leader and former president Bharrat Jagdeo, who earlier in the week called for the WICB and the players to iron out the issues, with CARICOM as the mediator.
MUMBAI, India (CMC) — West Indies batsmen Lendl Simmons and Kieron Pollard both failed as reigning champions Mumbai Indians slumped to a heavy nine-wicket defeat to new franchise Rising Pune Supergiants, in the opening game of the new Indian Premier League season here yesterday.
Opting to bat first, Mumbai showed plenty rust in stumbling to 121 for eight off their 20 overs at the Wankhede Stadium, but Supergiants experienced no such glitches, racing to their target in the 15th over.
West Indies won another World Twenty20 title last week, and Marlon Samuels once again played a huge role in the victory. He has had a tough few years, and he let off some steam after securing the trophy. He has had to cope with a lot of flak for that, but it is disappointing to see some of the things that have been said. They are quite unsavoury.
I understand that Geoff Lawson said Marlon was a member of some gangs in Jamaica, that he was involved with “shady people”. It is total rubbish. I don’t understand how somebody who knows absolutely nothing about Marlon can make statements like that. He is trying to influence the world about a young man he knows nothing about.
CASTRIES, St Lucia (CMC) — The Australian duo of Mike Hussey and Shane Watson have congratulated St Lucia Zouks teammate Darren Sammy, following the St Lucia government’s decision to rename the Beausejour Cricket Ground in his honour.
Watson, who retired from international cricket following the recent Twenty20 World Cup in India, hailed Sammy as a “great leader” and said he was looking forward to playing alongside him at the Zouks’ home ground in Gros Islet.
“I knew when I first signed up for CPL how passionate the West Indies public are, but to receive this news about the St Lucia government’s decision to rename the national stadium in honour of one of their favourite sporting sons is a huge thing, especially for someone so young who has so much top-level cricket ahead of him,” Watson said.
